Dragonflies and Damselflies Of Kerala

Saffron Faced Blue Dart (Pseudagrion rubriceps Selys, 1876) ചെമ്മുഖപ്പൂത്താലി

Common name: Saffron Faced Blue Dart
Malayalam name: ചെമ്മുഖപ്പൂത്താലി
Scientific name: Pseudagrion rubriceps Selys, 1876
Family: Coenagrionidae
Location: Thumboor, Thumboormuzhy, Kerala
Date of observation: Various

Male: Abdomen 29 mm Hind-wing 18-20 mm
Female: Abdomen 29 mm Hind-wing 21mm.

Keys male
Thorax golden-green on dorsum, azure blue on sides, sparingly marked with black; never pruinosed; a narrow black humeral stripe present.

Keys female
Segment 9 with black dorsal marking bifid.
(Fraser vol.1 page 296 - 298)

Female

Male

Tandem

Male

Mating

Ovipositing

Male

Brown dusk hawk (Zyxomma petiolatum Rambur, 1842) സൂചിവാലന്‍ സന്ധ്യാത്തുമ്പി

Common name: Brown dusk hawk

Malayalam name: സൂചിവാലന്‍ സന്ധ്യാത്തുമ്പി

Scientific name: Zyxomma petiolatum Rambur, 1842
Family: Libellulidae
Place of observation: Thumboor, Kerala

Date of observation: Various

Male: Abdomen 37-42 mm Hind-wing 32-35 mm
Female: Abdomen 37-42 mm Hind-wing 32-38 mm.

Female

Male

Immature female

Immature male
Wings

Trumpet Tail (Acisoma panorpoides Rambur, 1842) മകുടിവാലന്‍

Common name: Trumpet Tail

Scientific name: Acisoma panorpoides Rambur, 1842
Malayalam name: മകുടിവാലന്‍
Family: Libellulidae

Place of observation: Thumboor, Thommana - Kerala

Date of observation: Various

Male: Abdomen 15-18 mm Hind-wing 16-21 mm
Female: Abdomen 15-18 mm Hind-wing 17-22 mm.

Female

Male

Female and male

Mating

Tandem

Immature male

Male

Female

Male

Mating

Female

Female with prey

Female

Male

Female

Immature female

Immature female

Laidlaw's clawtail (Onychogomphus acinaces Laidlaw, 1922)കുറുനഖവാലൻ

Common name: Laidlaw's clawtail

Malayalam name: കുറുനഖവാലന്‍

Scientific name: Onychogomphus acinaces Laidlaw, 1922
Family: Gomphidae
Place of observation: Athirappilly, Chinnar Kerala

Date of observation : 02-09-2015, 19-09-2017, 09-09-2019

Male: Abdomen (With appendages) 39 mm Hind-wing 30 mm
Female: Abdomen 39-40 mm Hind-wing 32-35 mm.

It is Endemic to the Western Ghats
The species is very closely related to O. nilgiriensis, and apart from the appendages the only reliable character by which to distinguish them is the pointed lower end of the antehumeral
stripe in O.acinaces and the absence of occipital spines in the female. O.acinaces is a far more static insect than O.nilgiriensis, which, as has been noted above, exhibits considerable variation.